Tata Nano AMT (Automatic) : Official Review

This is a discussion on Tata Nano AMT (Automatic) : Official Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Originally Posted by freakmuzik
Even the slightest of tilts of the roads could affect you perception of alignment. ... I ...

Even the slightest of tilts of the roads could affect you perception of alignment. ... I finally inferred that alignment needs to be checked with two persons of almost equal weight - the front passenger & the driver.

Weight of car, and I think tyre width make a difference. In case of the Nano, 70kgs additional on one side of a car that is less than 700 kg's will also make a difference.

I finally inferred that alignment needs to be checked with two persons of almost equal weight - the front passenger & the driver. I'm not sure if my inference is right & request experts to kindly comment on the same.

Even the slightest of tilts of the roads could affect you perception of alignment. I never realised this in my other cars & I don't know why; maybe because of the 135 section tyres. When the road is slightly banked to the left, you feel the car is pulling to the left.

Glad to know that you are fully enjoying the Nano experience.

Yes, the slight pull based on the crown on the road is a function of that super thin front tyre (intentionally used to induce understeer) and the fact that the front end doesn't carry the weight of the engine. A driver or passenger affects the traction on either side at the front I suppose.

A slightly wider front tyre might reduce this tendency and induce a bit of oversteer as well.

Weight of car, and I think tyre width make a difference. In case of the Nano, 70kgs additional on one side of a car that is less than 700 kg's will also make a difference.

A BIG yes! And the difference is very much noticeable. Getting satisfied with the alignment will take a long time for sure!

Quote:

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Glad to know that you are fully enjoying the Nano experience.

Yes, the slight pull based on the crown on the road is a function of that super thin front tyre (intentionally used to induce understeer) and the fact that the front end doesn't carry the weight of the engine. A driver or passenger affects the traction on either side at the front I suppose.

A slightly wider front tyre might reduce this tendency and induce a bit of oversteer as well.

How does the car drive in rain?

freakmuzik is talking about the scenario on road.

True. So yeah, I will have to live with that. In the rains, i did not find much of an issue with the car. Grip is sufficient but not great. It is better than my old Nano which used to loose grip much earlier. Once it starts raining, I change my driving completely to an extremely sedate mode so yeah, that's all I could infer about the grip levels. You need to be a little cautious with the brakes as it is an all drum setup, if you pass through a deep puddle of water, it may take a few moments to regain the bite. Until then you'l have to shove the brakes. That's the only difficult part that I've encountered. I must mention this is not applicable if you drive in the rain the usual way, just the surface water and splashing off a few shallow puddles - that seems to have no such effect. So not much to worry actually.

1000KM Update : However, have not been able to comprehend the calibration of the fuel guage though. It starts to blink even though the DTE shows nearly 90KMs!!

Lovely snap.

My Candy went down to the red 'E' LED of the fuel gauge with DTE showing 77 kms after it's first tank-full yesterday. So got myself the 2nd tank-full. Will try and figure out when she's really hungry! Slight idiosyncrasies with calibration are to be expected in every car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shramik

This is compounded by the drum brakes, & to the low capacity of the vaccuum in the servo. Suddenly, when the vaccuum runs out, you find there is no servo assistance & just at that time, a biker decides to dart in !! Very unnerving !! I was planning to fix a small reservoir just before the servo unit to increase the overall vaccuum capacity, and views from others who have very obviously faced this situation ?

I felt the loss of Servo and am now very conscious of it. I drive my Storme at 2 Mississippi gap with the car ahead in normal visibility on dry roads. But I drive the Nano at 3 Mississippi.

Confused? After the car ahead of you passes a light-pole (preferably a stationary light-pole ) say One Mississipi, Two Mississipi, Three Mississipi until you pass the same pole. Add a Mississipi each for night time and wet road surface.

Thus on a rainy night thy shalt follow in thy Nano at Five Mississippi distance from the car ahead! Keep us updated how your experiments with the servo work out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by condor

Weight of car, and I think tyre width make a difference. In case of the Nano, 70kgs additional on one side of a car that is less than 700 kg's will also make a difference.

That explains why I need to tilt the steering 3 degrees to drive straight. If I put on weight I'll need to tilt it more Another unique feature for the Nano!

Last edited by ampere : 26th April 2016 at 15:28.
Reason: Back to back posts merged.

That can't be - it must just be that the steering wheel is installed at a slight offset and when the front wheels are centred, the steering wheel isn't. Reinstalling the steering wheel without touching the alignment or the rest of the steering system will fix this minor issue which can also be left this way.

The best way to check things is on a flat empty surface. If all is correct, the car should run dead straight with hands off the steering wheel. Even with just the driver in the car. In your case, the steering wheel will be off centre while this is happening.

That can't be - it must just be that the steering wheel is installed at a slight offset and when the front wheels are centred, the steering wheel isn't. Reinstalling the steering wheel without touching the alignment or the rest of the steering system will fix this minor issue which can also be left this way.

The best way to check things is on a flat empty surface. If all is correct, the car should run dead straight with hands off the steering wheel. Even with just the driver in the car. In your case, the steering wheel will be off centre while this is happening.

You can even centre the steering wheel by a wheel alignment place who will turn the tie rod ends until the wheel is dead centre.
There is no need to remove the steering wheel at all.

Also, took TD of i10 Automatics. Felt much smooth and responsiveness in all the rev ranges. Confused to go for new nano/alto or used i10 auto.

Usage - Wifey driving to office/normal groceries/kids activities.

Is this normal for AMT cars? Will it resolve post few services? Please advice.

AMT's will always be a little jerky. That is not going to change. Since you have a good budget and are open to used cars, would suggest looking at the Brio AT. A much superior AT compared to the AMT's. Few members here have recently purchased used AStar AT's also. That is also worth looking at. The Micra AT would also be good for your use case.

Note: better to post this query in the ' which AT hatch' or ' AT under 10L ' thread.

AMT's will always be a little jerky. That is not going to change. Since you have a good budget and are open to used cars, would suggest looking at the Brio AT. A much superior AT compared to the AMT's. Few members here have recently purchased used AStar AT's also. That is also worth looking at. The Micra AT would also be good for your use case.

Note: better to post this query in the ' which AT hatch' or ' AT under 10L ' thread.

The Nano AMT needs getting used to. Pedal pressure on the accelerator & timing will ensure that gear shifts are smoother. I am sure you will get used to it.

There are two types of AMT's presently available in cars. One is the twin clutch (even though this is not commonly referred to as an AMT) and the other is the single clutch. Nano and the small Marutis have the single clutch type which has the limitation that the gear needs to be engaged while the clutch is disconnected in a sequence. That is clutch disengage, shift gear, clutch engage again. This is the reason for the perceptible delay because all these steps happen sequentially. It is a physical limitation of the system.

In the twin clutch boxes like Ford's DCT and VW's DSG, the odd and even gears for example 2 and 3 are engaged simultaneously on clutch 1 and clutch 2. When it becomes time to upshift from 2nd gear to 3rd gear, the clutch 1 is simply disengaged while simultaneously engaging clutch 2. Thus no perceptible delay between gearshifts. But even with these gearboxes you can experience a delay like in nano if you give such a throttle input as to make it downshift within odd or even gears. For example from 4th to 2nd or 5th to 3rd. Because these gears are on the same clutch and the single clutch like sequence will have to be followed to downshift.

But both twin and single clutch can be quirky while trying to park in a tight spot on a slope for example. Unless you have a hill hold function both tend to roll down on a slope initially on releasing the brake. They 'tend' to jerk sometimes as well. The jerk depends on how well the manufacturer has programmed the unit to respond.

The AMT's on the Tata and Maruti may behave differently. The AMT on the nano is specially an oddball in fine maneuvers on a slope. It either does not move at all or jumps like a horse or even stalls sometimes. It would be wise to try out all the AMT cars once in this situation once before deciding on one as each manufacturer uses their own logic to control the 'box. The Marutis being FWD, if they do act like nano on a slope, it may cause an unintended wheelspin and loss of control. I believe this is food for thought to anyone considering cars like the nano, celerio, figo, polo etc. that are not traditional automatics.

Isn't AMT supposed to be the automatic on a budget, and not as slick as the traditional ones?

I remember reading that somewhere; also that AMT does not compromise FE to the same extent as the usual auto boxes.

For the above, there is bound to a small compromise somewhere? One really needs to compare it against a full manual and see if it adds enough value to justify buying it, given how much it adds to the cost of the car as a percentage increase. My car is a non PS manual and I see no reason to change.